Bob Elliott Movies

Bill Murray co-directed (along with Howard Franklin) this mixture of The Out-of-Towners and After Hours, concerning Grimm (Bill Murray), a frustrated city planner who is fed up with the corruption and venality of New York City. Getting together a couple of accomplices -- Phyllis (Geena Davis), who admires Grimm for his audacity, and Loomis (Randy Quaid), a follower to Grimm's leader since grade school -- Grimm decides to rob a bank, pocket the money, get out of town and take off to tropical splendor. Dressing in a clown suit, Grimm devises a unique way to rob a bank -- taking a group of hostages at the bank and inviting the police to surround the bank. Amazingly, although pursued by a police chief (Jason Robards), the trio manage to pull off the robbery. However, the problems really start when they try to get from the bank to the airport -- which proves to be more difficult than the robbery. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In 1990, the upstart Fox network took a chance on a chubby, balding thirty-ish kid with a big dream, and began airing Get a Life, Late Night with David Letterman regular Chris Elliott's absurdist sitcom about a chubby, balding thirty-ish kid who lives with his parents and works as a paperboy. Actually, as Chris Peterson (Elliott) would point out, he's "head paperboy." David Mirkin, who had worked on Newhart and The Simpsons, was the executive producer, and former Late Night scribe Adam Resnick was the co-producer. Both would later go on to HBO's groundbreaking The Larry Sanders Show, as would Get a Life's writing supervisor, Bob Odenkirk, also of The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, who would later write the script for Being John Malkovich, got his start writing two of the more memorable episodes of Get a Life, "Prisoner of Love" and "1977 2000." The show was also perfectly cast, with Elliott's own father, Bob Elliott, of the beloved "Bob and Ray" comedy team, cast as Chris Peterson's cantankerous father, Fred, and the lovely Elinor Donahue, who starred in the classic sitcoms Father Knows Best and The Andy Griffith Show, playing Gladys, Chris' sweet but bluntly honest mom. The first season cast was rounded out with Sam Robards as Chris' slow-witted and naïve best friend, Larry Potter, and Robin Riker as Larry's caustic wife and Chris' nemesis, Sharon. Riker was the only one of these cast members to move on to the second season. Brian Doyle-Murray was added to the cast in season two, playing Chris' perennially grumpy landlord, Gus Borden. With such an assemblage of comedic talent, and Elliott's own modest following from his hilarious Late Night appearances as "The Guy Under the Seats" and other characters, the show was predicted by some to be a hit and run for years. It even had a hit show for its lead-in (although one with, arguably, a very different target audience demographic), the urban sketch comedy show, In Living Color. But when Get a Life failed to garner an immediate following (in part due to the relative weakness of the first episode, "Terror on the Hell Loop 2000"), the fledgling network began moving it all over the Sunday night schedule. Loyal viewers, and there were some, never knew at what time the show would air from week to week. This doomed the bizarre, innovative, and very funny sitcom to even worse ratings than it would otherwise have had. It was an unusual program. Chris was a loser of epic proportions, but eternally optimistic about his prospects. He seemed to believe he could accomplish anything, whether it was becoming a male model despite his flabbiness and baldness ("The Prettiest Week of My Life"), or traveling through time to 1977 to save a friend's job ("1977 2000"). The humor was hyper-ironic, as many of Late Night's sketches had been. Get a Life was a meta-sitcom. It was rife with non-sequiturs and amusing pop culture references. The story lines ranged from outrageous parodies of ancient sitcom plots (Chris gets trapped in a meat locker with Sharon, his least favorite person) to absurd and ridiculous original stories (Chris becomes a spelling bee champion after being exposed to toxic waste). Chris also had a number of sitcom-style quirks, such as his obsession with the song "Alley Cat," and his unnoticed but seemingly supernatural ability to take a full glass of whatever beverage he wants from the refrigerator without ever opening a container or pouring. He also suffered a violent death at the end of many episodes, but it never seemed to get him down. The show was a flop and ran for only two seasons, even though it was on a network that seemed desperate for content, but it developed a passionate and loyal cult following. It has since been sporadically syndicated, and several episodes have been released on DVD. Cabin Boy, a feature film starring Elliott and featuring many of the same creative personnel, was released in 1994 to similar widespread public apathy but cult interest. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

After 18 years as a paperboy, Chris (Chris Elliott) faces his own obsolescence in this episode. Called in for a meeting with his boss, Chris thinks he's getting a promotion, but explains to his parents that he won't take a desk job. He tells them he's going to demand "a padded seat for my bike, a thermos, and a mistress on 24-hour call, seven days a week." But he has a rude awakening when he gets to his boss' office. Mr. Martin (Graham Jarvis) isn't promoting Chris -- he's replacing him and all the other paperboys with a massive robotic newspaper delivery vehicle, the Paperboy 2000. Chris organizes a town meeting to save his job, but when the people get a look at the fancy high-tech robot, they're instantly won over. Ben Spangler (Hal Landon Jr.) excitedly comments that having the new robot deliver his paper will be "just like living in outer space." Chris quickly gives up the idea of finding another job and sinks into depression. Eventually, he decides to challenge Paperboy 2000 to a contest and show everyone he's better than the robot. He prepares for the "Man vs. Machine" showdown by duct taping athletic pads and tin foil to himself, and putting on eye black. The whole town turns out to watch the contest. His friend Larry (Sam Robards) tells him, "No matter what happens today, they can't take away your dignity. Because you've pretty much already done that with that outfit." This episode features John Waters regular Mink Stole in a small role. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Will Chris Peterson (Chris Elliott) find true love with Charleene (Blair Tefkin)? Not if Charleene's sister, Sharon Potter (Robin Riker), can help it. Sharon is married to Larry (Sam Robards), Chris' best friend, and she's always despised Chris. The trouble starts for her when she has Charleene and some friends over for a dinner party. Chris naturally crashes, and proceeds to describe a dream to the assembled guests, in which he was chased by a frozen turkey through a Brazilian supermarket. This long, demented story drives away the other guests, and Chris, over Sharon's strenuous objections, ends up making a date with Charleene. The date is going well until Chris, confused by the fact that they're watching a French film, starts to complain loudly about how everyone in the movie is speaking "baby talk." He's eventually dragged from his seat and beaten by angry ushers. After the big date, Larry reassures Sharon that Charleene has probably lost interest in Chris. But to Sharon's horror, she finds the couple naked in her and Larry's bed. Chris is ecstatic, and Charleene seems fairly content, but Sharon quickly leaves the room, explaining, "I'm going to wash my eyes out with soap." When Chris starts talking about spending holidays with the Potter family, Sharon decides she's had enough, and hatches a plan to end the two lovebirds' happiness. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Chris (Chris Elliott) is down at the coffee shop, regaling his fellow newsboys with tales of his sexual conquests, when the subject of the Newspaper Boy Semi-Annual Father and Son Day comes up. Chris reminisces about he and his dad, Fred (Bob Elliott), competing in the event when he was a boy, but he says it would be unfair to the younger newsboys to enter it now, "kinda like Meryl Streep showing up at Star Search." When young Otto (David Tom) calls Chris' courage into question, Chris claims he just has better things to do -- "adult things, like playing with matches, and eating candy from strangers. That's right -- strangers -- who, by the way, have the best candy, but I guess you wouldn't know that, would you?" Chris eventually caves in, but then he has to convince Fred to enter the competition with him, despite their history of being humiliated, and his advanced age. Gladys (Elinor Donahue), Chris' mom, thinks it's a grand idea. Fred is dead set against it, but Chris brings out the heavy ammo -- "the face." After three days of being subjected to Chris' childish pouting, Fred relents and the two start training. They practice sack racing and egg racing, but when the day of the event arrives, it turns out to be a brutal, American Gladiators-style battle, emceed by James Hampton (who played Dobbs on F-Troop) as Fletcher. Otto and his dad, the returning champs, insult Chris and Fred throughout the events, and Chris discovers a way to make crashing to the ground again and again less painful. "Just let your face catch the brunt of it," he tells Fred, "It's nature's shock absorber." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

TV addicts of the 1980s and 1990s know Chris Elliot as the "man behind the chair" on Late Night With David Letterman. Sitcom buffs will remember Elliot as star of the quirky Fox series Get a Life, while moviegoers may have caught him in his theatrical-feature vehicle Cabin Boy. If you'd like to see this second-generation laughspinner (he's the son of Bob Elliot) at his very best, check out this two-tier video. In "FDR, A One Man Show" Elliot wickedly spoofs such theatrical presentations as Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight! and James Whitmore's Give 'Em Hell, Harry. And in "Action Family", Elliot sets his satirical sights on formula TV situation comedies. Marv Albert, a man not known for his comic gifts, appears in support of the puckish Elliot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comical video features the cast of the original Saturday Night Live and the quietly riotous Bob and Ray. Also featured is Willie Nelson who croons three tunes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Inspired by Johnny Hart's urbane comic strip B.C., this half-hour animated special features the special talents of radio comedians Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding. The plot finds those two hip cavemen, Peter and Wiley, trying to merchandise some trees and rocks for the Yuletide season. They enjoy success beyond their wildest dreams when they claim that the "presents" were brought by a character they've invented, a fella called Santa Claus. Ultimately, however, the prehistoric pair learns the true meaning of Christmas. B.C.: A Special Christmas was first syndicated in 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy is notable as the final onscreen appearance (non-speaking) of Edward Everett Horton, a staple comic supporting actor from the early '30s onward. Dick Van Dyke plays an ambitious small-town minister who rallies the whole town to meet a challenge bet by a tobacco corporation. Cooked up by the tobacco company's public relations head (Bob Newhart), the bet is an offer to pay twenty five million dollars ($25,000,000.00) to any town that can quit smoking for the required period of time. Barnard Hughes is Dr. Proctor, a heart surgeon who has to be physically restrained to prevent him from smoking. Jean Stapleton is the mayor's wife, who swells visibly as her eating replaces cigarettes. Edward Everett Horton is eloquent as the mysterious tobacco tycoon who comes to observe the chaos first-hand. There is lots of frantic action as the townsfolk try to win the prize, and the tobacco company (which has no intention of paying off the bet) works to sabotage their efforts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide